Import duty on gold set for review: Commerce Secretary

The Centre may relook the import duty on gold to curtail the arbitrage opportunities resulting from free trade agreements (FTAs) but without hurting the genuine requirement of business, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said.

The top official’s observation comes in the wake of a surge in gold imports earlier this year from South Korea, which signed an FTA with India in 2010. In August this year, the Indian government responded by restricting imports of gold and silver items from S Korea.

“The real issue on why free trade agreements tend to be leveraged is the issue that we have been raising again and again and that is the import duty on gold. This is a matter that the Centre is seized of,” Teaotia said at the Gold Summit organised by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.